The American Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

This is an enjoyable book with nicely chosen selections, albeit with some minor problems. The title is misleading, a better title would be "American Crime Stories at the Turn of the Century", rather than "American Rivals of Sherlock Holmes", as some stories, e.g., "Found Guilty", have little or no detective/detection element. Additionally, because of the time when these stories were written, the grammar differs somewhat from current usage, and there are some words, e.g., counterpane, that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. The first of the thirteen stories in this collection, Hugh C Weir's "Cinderella's Slipper", featuring the slightly eccentric female detective Madelyn Mack, is possibly the best. It's just the type of story to motivate you to find a comfortable easy chair located, if available, in front of the fireplace in your library. In addition to Weir's work, there are stories by Rodriguez Ottolengui (2), Josiah Flynt and Francis Walton, Jacques Futrell, William MacHarg and Edwin Balmer (2), Samuel Hopkins Adams, Francis Lynde, Charles Felton Pidgin and J.M. Taylor, Arthur B. Reeve, Frederick Irving Anderson, and Richard Harding Davis. Although these stories are approximately 100 years old, they cover some modern topics, e.g., police and corporate corruption, lie detectors, profiling, CSI-type analysis, etc. The detection stories are the best, and they rely more heavily on detection and less on social interactions than many modern crime stories. This short story collection can be recommended both for it well-written selections, as well as its real, rather than fictional, historic ambiance.